Why don't you start with a tarot journal? You can write your thoughts about your tarot cards, your own meaning to each card and what does it reminds you of. The other thing you can do is meditate on each card.
And with the gods and goddess why don't you call your own god/dess to help you on your readings that's what I do or you can say a short prayer.
Also I recommend you to ground and center first before you do a reading.
I like to tell my students its like a story book just you putting words to a picture, use your senses, and see what you pick up for each card...some people learn their own meaning of the cards and then the original meaning of the cards, what I did was I started learning the meaning of the cards first then started to incorporate my own meanings.
also start with smaller spreads first then work your way up, by doing a 10 card spread such as a Celtic cross can be really confusing when you first start
Hold and look at your cards as often as you can. Get a good feel for each cards energy. Remember to cleanse your cards often if you have been doing readings. They tend to absorb the energies of those you read, as well as your own. I suggest smudging or a purification using fire (through visualization). Some people like to charge their cards. Simple spreads are good for starters. The three card spread (past/present/future, or mind/body/spirit) is one of the best to begin with. Once you get a feel for what you are doing, you can play around with harder spreads. Some readers will not even use a spread, and will just randomly pull as they are doing a reading for someone.
There are beginner books out there. I liked Joan Bunning's Tarot for Beginners book. However, the art on the tarot deck, in particular the Rider Waite, is enough to provoke some idea of what each image would mean. When you first look at them I think you can tell which card means something good and which one should give you a reason for concern. Then after you decide which cards you think are good/not so good then you can read up on what some renown tarot authors think/interpret the cards and see how they compare with yours. You will find that you will be surprised at how similar your meaning might be with the other authors and this way you will gain more confidence in your readings because you know other's think the same. So I would first suggest looking at each card and deciding for yourself what they mean, some I might add will have some really specific meanings to you I think.
Good luck!
I you need to spend some time alone with your deck. Hold it while you relax and just feel your warm energies flow into it. I agree with an earlier post that Athena is someone to call upon. Cheers!
Start with simple things such as learning the meaning of the card and then exercise like this: shufle your deck and put your energy into it, then put it on the table and cut them 3 times with your left hand, which represent the intuition part of your body. Now put the first three cards on the table. The first one represents the past, the next one the present and the third one the future. Tell the meaning of each card, build a conexion between them and tell what everything transmits to you. This is the easiest way, you can used at very simple questions about your future but it is the perfect way to begin:)
